In Auburn, ME yesterday, John Ferland was sentenced to serve 3 months in jail for abandoning a woman who fell off of his motorcycle. He must also serve a year of probation, and 300 hours of service.

The strange story involves Ferland who was partying with a friend at a local bar. According to the report from the Associated Press...

For his part, Ferland said he and a friend were celebrating a birthday when they stopped at the Midnight Blues Club on Auburn’s Main Street. As he was leaving on his Harley-Davidson, he heard a woman fighting with a man.

"I didn't know who she was," he said Thursday. "I'd never met her. She surprised me by getting on the back of my motorcycle."

She said she needed to go to a friend's house in Minot and asked for a ride. He said she was teetering back and forth on his motorcycle and that he turned onto Fairview Court to find a level spot before she fell, he said.

Ferland said he stopped and checked Douglas' pulse as a neighbor called for help. He said he thought she was just intoxicated, so he left her. "On that night, I failed gravely," Ferland said. "I shirked my responsibility."

The prosecutor charged Ferland with leaving the scene of an accident that caused a serious injury. However, Ferland instead plead guilty to a lesser charge of just leaving the scene of an accident.

Opinion

It doesn't sound like he caused the injury, he checked her at least to see that she still had a pulse, and he did notice someone calling for help. It doesn't sound like there was anything he could do to save her life. I agree it wasn't right for him to just ride away, but this sentence sounds way too severe.

I imagine Ferland was also intoxicated at the time, and was probably thinking that if he stayed around he'd get busted for that. But I'm thinking that cops can only bust you for that if they witness you operating a vehicle. If he was just standing around as the cops came, I think he would've been alright.

Posted bySteve Johnson

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You are a complete idiot. Ferland and Soulard(yes there were two of them - Soulard is just getting off scott free) left that woman to die because they were just scared to get a DUI(which would have been Ferland's second). It also happens that they were in Ferland's neighborhood when it happened...I thought he was just taking her home? Ferland and Soulard are also both members of the Maine Air National Guard and are supposed to be trained in CPR and first aid(though I wouldn't say either is the model airman esp Ferland). They both spend their weekends getting drunk and picking up girls and yet their military supervisor actually took the stand to say that Ferland is a leader?? Are you kidding me? He should be indicted too for lying under oath.

Anonymous seems to know a whole lot about nothing. I sense a little jealousy there. My question is why did it take 2 years for the State to investigate when the outcome of the investigation was the same verdict as what Ferland told them to begin with. Must be because it's true I would say. I did not know Ferland before the incident but met him since and he is all about honesty and integrity and that showed through in trial as well.

I know both men and they are absolutely upstanding. It was an unfortunate situtation but Ferland stood up like a man accepted responsibility for his actions and dealt with the consequences. Everyone makes mistakes it's how you deal with them that defines what typeof person you are.